May 27, 2024

Eagles rookie NFL player comparisons: CB Quinyon Mitchell

With similar athleticism in the secondary and coming from a smaller school background, Quinyon Mitchell is reminiscent of Kansas City cornerback L’Jarius Sneed

By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

First-round rookie DB Quinyon Mitchell.

As we do every offseason, we'll be comparing each of the Philadelphia Eagles' rookies to current or former NFL players. We'll start off the series by trying to find a comp for first-round cornerback Quinyon Mitchell.

ROOKIE COMP SERIES

CB Quinyon Mitchell | DB Cooper DeJean | EDGE Jalyx Hunt | RB Will Shipley | WR Ainias Smith

Mitchell finished second in the nation in 2022 with 19 pass breakups. In 2023 he finished second again with 18 pass breakups. He had the 12th-most and 14th-most pass breakups in a single season in college football history (or more accurately, as long as pass breakups have been tracked). In other words, he gets his hands on a lot of passes. He also had 5 INTs in 2022, two of which he returned for scores. He had 1 INT in 2023.

Mitchell played inside and outside in college, but the Eagles are allowing him to focus on playing outside corner, for now. In run support, Mitchell was a physical, willing participant, and a sure tackler.

The concerns about Mitchell were that he did not face top tier wide receivers playing in the MAC at Toledo, and he wasn't often asked to play press man coverage. However, he put some of those concerns to bed during Senior Bowl practices, where he was clearly one of the best players on the field, going up against — and beating — a bunch of receivers who were selected in the first two days of the draft, while also playing press. His stock continued to rise after a great showing at the NFL Combine, where he ran a 4.33 40.

The player Mitchell reminds me a bit of is former Chiefs and current Titans cornerback L'Jarius Sneed. Like Mitchell, Sneed went to a smaller school (Louisiana Tech), and he had usage concerns entering the NFL. In fact, though he was always viewed as a cornerback prospect heading into the NFL, he played safety at Louisiana Tech, so his projection from a small school to the NFL was even more difficult than Mitchell's.

As players, Sneed also has inside-outside versatility, and he too gets his hands on a lot of passes, with 40 career pass breakups and 10 INTs in 57 career games. He has also shown the willingness to do the dirty work against the run, as he averaged 87 tackles per season over the last three years with the Chiefs.

And, oh hey, Mitchell and Sneed also have very similar size/athleticism measurables.